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Newcomer Pod
Hi, I'm Eric Newcomer. With this podcast, I dive straight into the heart of the tech industry, interviewing top investors and founders. Im bringing my sensibility as someone who understands the inside story of Silicon Valley but who is happy to poke and prod as to why the tech world operates like it does. If you want first-person and insider information delivered to your newsletter, subscribe to my podcast at newcomer.co on Substack. Language: en-us Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Former SEC Official on FTX, Crypto & Silicon Valley’s Fraud Problem
Thursday, 17 September, 2026
Renee Jones on how billion-dollar startups escaped public scrutiny, why founders became more powerful than their boards, and what happens when private markets operate in secrecy.Renee Jones, Boston College Law School professor, former SEC official, and author of Untamed Unicorns, joins Eric Newcomer to examine how the startup financing system shifted from investor oversight to founder control. Renee explains how changes to securities laws allowed companies to raise enormous sums while remaining private, avoid meaningful disclosure, and delay going public indefinitely.They discuss what FTX, Theranos, WeWork, and Uber reveal about startup governance; why unicorn valuations can be misleading; how employees are asked to accept stock without the information needed to value it; whether venture capital’s AI obsession is distorting innovation; and why Renee believes stronger disclosure and financial controls are essential. They also debate the SEC’s approach to crypto, the political power of the industry, and whether meaningful private-market reform is still possible.Subscribe for weekly conversations with the founders, investors, executives, and policymakers shaping the tech industry.
